


Fear of Darkness

by PracticalSuccubus



Category: Persona 5
Genre: M/M, Ryuji has Nyctophobia, Sojiro goes Dad Mode, a bit of a sad headcanon, fear of darkness, headcanon fic for me, if you weren't sure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-04
Updated: 2020-02-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:55:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22555198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PracticalSuccubus/pseuds/PracticalSuccubus
Summary: All schools had problem students, no matter where you went.
Relationships: Kurusu Akira/Sakamoto Ryuji
Comments: 3
Kudos: 188





	Fear of Darkness

Akira knew that no matter where you went, schools had assholes. No matter what happened, there’d always be assholes who took pleasure in others’ misfortune. If someone told him that at the school they went to, everyone was really nice, he knew the person either never had the misfortune of meeting them, or they were one of them. 

He knew that Shujin Academy was no different than any other school. Even if things looked up a lot, there were still those who spread rumors. Mostly about him and Ryuji, but there were still some floating around about Ann as well. 

He was waiting outside the school for Ryuji, like he always did. It was one of the staples in their relationship. They always went to Le Blanc after school, and if it was Ryuji waiting for him, neither of them tended to make the other wait for too long. So, when it had been twenty minutes of waiting for him, Akira was getting worried. There was no text, either. He decided to hell with it and look for him. 

“Hey look, it’s Kurusu-kun. What d’you think he’d do if we locked him in, too?”

“Think he’ll start crying, too?”

“Let’s see.” 

He was grabbed by two strong students, and they dragged him towards a door that had others gathered around it. He could hear strangled sobbing coming from the closed door. A pleading voice that couldn’t get any words out. 

He knew that voice. 

He broke out of the students’ hold, and ran towards the door, trying to open it. The students around him laughed, especially when pounding noises on the door sounded. 

“Looking for this, Kurusu-kun?” 

Akira looked up to see one of the smug students holding up a key. 

“We don’t know why he’s crying. It’s just a little bit of fun, no harm in it. But, you seem so eager to join your boyfriend in there,” the smug student said. He walked forward, and unlocked the door. The door opened, and he saw a flash of Ryuji’s hair before he was shoved inside, and the door was shut and locked again. 

Strangled cries had softened to whimpers, but Akira knew. He knelt on the ground, and felt around until he found him. His arms wrapped around him tightly, holding him close. 

“It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s just me.” he soothed, holding him closer. 

“I….I just wanna get out of the dark, man…” he sobbed. 

“I know. I know. It’s not much, but I have this,” Akira soothed softly. Keeping the blond in his arms, he took out his phone, and unlocked it. The screen’s brightness immediately captured Ryuji’s eyes. He hiccuped, leaning his head on Akira’s chest. “It’s okay. I’ve got you,” Akira soothed. He gently kissed Ryuji’s head. Ryuji watched as he went to his messages, and scrolled for Sojiro’s contact. 

“I’m going to contact Sojiro. I don’t know if there’s much he can do, but I know he won’t stand for this,” Akira said. Ever since the cafe owner had adopted him, he didn’t stand for anything negative happening to him or Futaba. If something did happen, he was quick to jump the gun, going into a protective father mode that Akira appreciated. He still laughed at the memory of when he and Ryuji started dating. Even though he had known the blond a lot, it didn’t stop him from brutally interrogating him and keeping a very watchful eye on him for a solid month of their relationship. 

-Going to be late getting home today. Don’t even know if they’re still out there, but some assholes locked Ryuji and I in a janitor’s closet here. 

He immediately saw that Sojiro was typing, which gave him a breath of relief. 

-I’m on my way. Did you get any names? I’m definitely going to go to your principal about this. 

Akira looked at Ryuji, who had been keeping his eyes on the phone, never once looking at Akira. And Akira was okay with that. It had been after the damned House of Darkness in Sae’s Palace when Ryuji had admitted to him why he had been so on-edge and never said a word in that place. Why, when something had gone wrong and they had left, he had begged to stay in the safe room until it was taken care of. Something Akira had protested, until he had looked at the eyes of his closest teammate. Seeing that raw fear in his eyes, Akira had agreed. Although, he had had Ann stay behind with him. He didn’t want Ryuji to be alone, and they had known each other before everything had happened for them. 

After getting home that day, he had asked Akira if he could stay the night. Once everyone had left, and Morgana had gone with Futaba for the night, was when Ryuji had told him everything. How he was petrified of the dark. He couldn’t stay in the dark. He hated it so much. Mementos was absolute hell with how dark it was, and the House of Darkness in the Palace had pushed him over the edge. It all stemmed from his father. How when he was younger, as any normal little kid, Ryuji was scared of the dark. But his father had taken advantage of this, often locking him in the pitch black closet for hours. He’d laugh at Ryuji’s sobbing and begging, and if he did any of both of those, he’d be in there longer and longer. Sometimes beatings were in as well. He had begged Akira to keep it a secret. He had kept it for so long, and he didn’t want anyone to know. He had only told Akira, because of how worried he had been. 

Akira had promised he’d keep his mouth shut. He never spoke about it around the others. So being like this, Akira understood why Ryuji didn’t look at him. 

“I can’t….I can’t right now, man,” Ryuji admitted, sounding like he was going to cry again. 

“It’s okay. It’s okay. You don’t have to,” Akira assured softly, pressing a kiss to Ryuji’s head. 

-Can’t think of any names right now. Might have to wait until tomorrow for that one if they’re not there still. Sorry. 

After he sent the message, he pulled up one of Ryuji’s favorite videos. The two sat there watching it, until they heard footsteps. Fast, brisk ones and angry, almost stomping ones. Akira paused the video, but kept the phone open. 

“What. Is the meaning of this?! Sakura-san here tells me you lot have locked two students inside here. Is this correct?” 

“I-It was just a j-”

“I don’t want to hear any excuses! Are they still in there right now? Yes or no?” 

“Y-Yes.”

“Let them out this instant! All of your parents *will* be hearing about this, and you will all have detention for two weeks!” 

The key went into the lock. Ryuji scrambled to clean his face off as he and Akira stood up. The door opened, and when they walked out, they were embraced by Sojiro. 

“Boys, am I sorry this happened to you. I will assure you and Sakura-san here that this will never happen again,” the principal said. He walked off with the five boys in tow, and once they were gone, Sojiro released Akira and Ryuji. 

“Are you boys okay?” he asked. Akira looked at Ryuji. 

“I...I dunno, man,” Ryuji muttered. Akira didn’t blame him. 

“I’m fine, but we’ll take you to Le Blanc for now,” Akira promised. Ryuji nodded, and followed the two to Sojiro’s car. On the drive home, Akira had a firm hold on Ryuji’s hand, and when they arrived at Le Blanc, and got up to his room, Ryuji laid across Akira’s futon, his head in Akira’s lap. Akira ran his fingers through Ryuji’s hair gently. Contrasting its spiky appearance, Ryuji’s hair was actually quite soft, and Akira loved running his fingers through it. He leaned his head down, and pressed a kiss next to Ryuji’s ear. 

“I love you.” 

Akira smiled softly as he saw Ryuji’s cheeks turn a light pink from the words, and he turned to look at him. There was always a mix of flustered and happiness on Ryuji’s face whenever he said them, and it was another thing he loved. 

“Love you, too, ‘Kira.” 

Akira gently lifted Ryuji slightly, so he was still resting on him, placing his head on his shoulder. He started to rock back and forth gently. 

“They were assholes.”

A simple statement that made Ryuji blink, then start chuckling. His body was shaking slightly as he laughed, and put his arms around Akira. 

“They really were.”


End file.
